Sooner Rather Than Later
by Tessie26
Summary: While Ponyboy and Johnny are in Windrixville, Soda has to give Darry the unexpected news about Sandy. One-shot.


AN: Hey everyone! This one-shot is something I've been thinking about for a while, but just never got around to writing. I hope you like it. It takes place while Johnny and Ponyboy are in Windrixville, and it's before Sandy tells Soda that the baby isn't his.

* * *

Sodapop came in that night looking even more upset than when he'd left. I couldn't blame him, though. Ponyboy and Johnny had been missing for almost two days, and the whole gang was kind of off. 

"Hey, Darry." He said numbly as he walked past me into the kitchen.

"Hey there, little buddy." I replied, in pretty much the same tone.

"Sandy decide to go to bed early?" He'd just gotten home from a date, but it was only 10:30. Normally he stayed out until at least eleven.

"Nah, I took her home." He walked back into the living room in his stocking feet, and holding a coke in his hand.

I figured he was thinking about Pony and Johnny. I knew I was. Both of us were quiet for a while, and I turned on the television. We were halfway through an _I Love Lucy_ rerun when he suddenly spoke.

"Darry, Sandy's pregnant."

I rubbed my ears, thinking I'd misheard him. "What did you just say?"

"She told me tonight. She said she went to the doctor the other day and had the test." The funny thing about all this was that he was saying it so calmly, like he was telling me the sky was blue, or something.

I could feel my anger rising, and by that point I was at odds to control it.

"How the hell did you let this happen, Sodapop? Weren't you careful?" My previous yell had come down to a suppressed shout, but it didn't mean I was any less mad.

"Of course I was! What do you think I am, some kind of idiot or something?" I couldn't believe he'd just yelled back at me. Soda had never yelled back at me. Ever. He looked close to tears, and I felt sorry for blowing up at him.

"Did she say how far along she was?" I asked. After all, the more time we'd have to figure this out, the better.

He shook his head. "We didn't talk about it much. She just kind of told me, and then I took her home."

I looked at him. I couldn't see him as an adult. This was Soda, my goofy kid brother. I knew this wasn't gonna be easy on him, no matter what happened. Reality had sucker punched him.

"You've gotta do the right thing by her."

"I know. I'm gonna ask her to marry me." He sat up, putting the Coke on the coffee table. "We were plannin' on gettin' married anyhow, It'll just be sooner rather than later."

I had absolutely no idea how we were gonna pull this off. As it was, we needed every penny we could get.With Soda supporting a family, things would be really hard. Not to mention that our social worker probably wouldn't be too happy to find out that Sodapop was a sixteen-year-old father.

"It's not that easy, little buddy. Where are the three of you supposed to live? How're you gonna pay for everything? It'd be impossible to live on what you make." I hated to shoot him down like that, but I couldn't stand by and not help him, either.

"I know, Dar. I'm gonna talk to Sandy tomorrow. Maybe I could work more hours or something." He put his head down, and I clapped him lightly on the shoulder, trying to be supportive.

"Don't worry about it, Pepsi-Cola. We'll work somethin' out." I said. Though, in all honesty, I wasn't so reassured about the whole thing. With only a tenth grade education, jobs wouldn't be easy to find, and the money he made at the DX wouldn't last forever.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Steve or Two-Bit down at The Dingo." He stated, making it clear that the conversation was over. Then, wordlessly, he put his tennis shoes back on and walked out the door.

* * *

I spent the next few hours wondering if the whole situation was my fault or not. Since our parents were killed, I hadn't had a chance to talk to Soda being careful when it came to Sandy, or any girl for that matter. I knew Dad had had a talk with him when he first started dating her, but that didn't mean things hadn't changed in the past few months. He was getting close to seventeen, and the thought that something like this could happen had been in the back of my head for a while. 

Stupidly, I'd ignored it.

I made a mental note to give Ponyboy the lecture of his life when he got back from wherever he and Johnny were hiding, but that wasn't going to help Soda. I thought about it for a minute; We had three bedrooms in the house: the one Pony and Soda shared, Mom and Dad's (which was mine, now.), and the room that was mine before Mom and Dad died. If I moved back into my old room, Soda and Sandy could have the master bedroom, assuming it was approved by the state in the first place.

Still, kids cost a lot of money, I was sure of that. If Soda worked six days a week instead of five, and I picked up some more shifts, plus whatever money Sandy could make part-time, we could at least afford the essentials. It would mean no more movies, or daily trips to The Dingo for Ponyboy, but he'd probably like being able to eat more than watching Frankie Avalon comedies, anyway.

I hoped Sandy would accept Soda's proposal, it's not like she could support herself if she didn't. Then there was Sandy's father. From what I'd heard, he wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the world. I'd have to tell Soda not to go walking through her house anytime soon, otherwisethe old prunewas liable to run him through with a kitchen knife or something.

I got up to call my boss and volunteer for more shifts, tripping over Ponyboy's copy of _The Fountainhead_ as I went.

I must look like a really great guardian; One of my brothers was a runaway murder suspect, and the other was a high school dropout who got his girlfriend pregnant. I wanted to give them both what I could never get, yet there wasn't a day that I didn't second guess myself, wondering if I was a good enough father to them.

I never thought I would have to manage a family at twenty, but there wasn't any use being bitter about it.

Like Soda said, it was just sooner rather than later.

* * *

Please review, and thanks for reading! -Tessie:) 


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